Most Travel-Restricted Places in the World

FORT KNOX US BULLION DEPOSITORY (KENTUCKY)

Fort Knox has served multiple purposes throughout US history and plenty of conspiracy theorists have come up with pretty fantastical ideas of what actually lies inside (alien space ships, anyone?). However, what we do know about Fort Knox is that it’s an important safeguard for America’s gold.

It holds 2.4% of the world’s refined gold – that doesn’t seem like a lot but that’s more gold holdings than any other country. (Yeah, UAE and your gold bar vending machines, looking at you!)

During WWII, the depository had the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. It also held the Magna Carta and other documents from across history. During WWII and into the Cold War, morphine and opium were held at Fort Knox because synthetic painkillers had yet to be invented and the US was worried it would be cut off from sources of opium.

If you’d like to take a tour of Fort Knox, well that’s too bad. It has been opened once for the news media and Congress in 1974. And that’s it.

There are separate doors and vaults but the gold vault is surrounded by granite walls and a 25-ton door. The depository has fences guarded by a special US Mint Police force and because it’s within the army base Fort Knox, it also has extra Army members for security.

Just a few of the security measures you’ll run into if you are crazy enough to try and break in: alarms, minefields, barbed razor wire, electric fences, cameras, armed guards and all of the Army units based at Fort Knox who have things like Apache helicopters ready at their disposal.